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Every iPhone Apple sells today ships with 32 native applications but few, if any, are considered best in class. It may seem like Apple has lost its edge on mobile apps and software design, but the company's primary mission to sell hardware certainly hasn't suffered as a result. Indeed, the Apple experience -- a polished user interface married with premium hardware -- is as much about looks as functionality, and the technology ecosystem Apple has built continues to grow and mature.

Snapchat, Instagram and Pinterest arrived on the social scene after Facebook and Twitter, but they quickly made their marks, especially among millennials. After reaching critical mass, the three companies are attempting to monetize their services by rolling out new features for advertisers. Select large, global brands, including McDonald's, are testing the new features and could be role models for other marketers interested in the apps. However, all three services are still relatively young, and it might be too early to tell if ad campaigns are worth the investment.

"We at Apple reject the idea that our customers should have to make tradeoffs between privacy and security," said Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier this month during an Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) event where he was honored for corporate leadership. "We can and we must provide both in equal measure."

Apple is taking a fresh stab at content curation and aggregation with a native mobile app that it will release as part of iOS 9 this fall. The Apple News app will combine and curate articles from more than 50 publications at launch, and it is sure to create another rift between those who create online media, advertisers and the many companies that want to deliver it to online readers.

It seems every new app is quickly hailed as the Uber, Spotify, or Netflix of some other industry. But with Switch, it really is the Tinder of job searching -- right down to swiping left and right to indicate your mutual interest. However, instead of swiping on potential suitors, you'll swipe left or right on potential jobs. And employers will do the same to you.

Networking with peers isn't a science -- there is no right or wrong way -- but IT leaders who commit to fostering their networks of coworkers and colleagues online can benefit in myriad ways. Technology and social media will never replace face-to-face conversations. However, a well-built digital network of intelligent and influential peers can be invaluable for IT leaders who need to stay informed and connected with the issues and individuals that are key to their professional endeavors.

Social media can make or break your career. We've all heard at least one story of an employee getting fired over a Tweet or Facebook post. And when you apply to a job, most hiring managers will first turn to Google to vet your background and qualifications.

Twitter Cards are one of the core features of Twitter's platform. However, if you aren't aware of them or confused by what they do, you're not alone. Twitter Cards enable developers for brands, publishers and other businesses to add photos, videos and a richer media experience to tweets. Marketers see them as a tool to boost their business in varying ways while users just see the better experience they provide in their timeline.

Facebook's ongoing courtship of news, media and entertainment companies has had its ups and downs, but partnerships always seemed inevitable. Today's Internet users spend less time on walled-off websites and in apps with narrow focuses, and Facebook has become a default distributor -- some might say gatekeeper -- of all things media. Publishers might be concerned about ceding too much control to Facebook, but the concept of users consuming more and more news through Facebook seems like another inevitability.

Twitter lost about 27 percent of its market value, or more than $9 billion, last week. Critics are beating the drums of war, of course, but Twitter has been tested before and has proven its ability to endure. The company faced investor backlash last year, and its stock hit an all-time low. High-level executive turnover is one of the company's hallmarks. It has struggled to tell a clear story about what exactly Twitter is and why people should use it.

Facebook's unparalleled reach into the daily routines of consumers around the world, and the ongoing consumerization of IT trend, put the world's largest social network in a unique position to make a significant mark in the enterprise. Catering to large businesses isn't easy, however, and Facebook will have to overcome some key challenges before enterprises see it as a worthy contender for their business.

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